Observability - Please allow a node to have an alternate IP address.
I ask that "nodes" be able to have a second pingable IP WAN address. The current Orion "Node" configuration allows management via a single IP address. This does not allow for monitoring and alerting on failure of an alternate path. The new object could be given the same name with append of "-ALT".
In our industry we have very high SLA on for some services. Conventional WANs cannot meet this SLA. To meet this requiement we send this critical traffic via two seperate network providers. If a packet is lost on one WAN link it can be found on the alternate link. We use Telos iPort devices with dual WAN interfaces to combine this dual traffic into quality audio.
NetPath does not satisfy this need as this is not a route failover type of diversity. We use both paths simultaneously and need to be sure both paths are up. Diversity is provided at the packet level.
The ability to alert on UP/DOWN status os the destination node interface is not adequate for this purpose as a WAN path can fail without dropping the client interface. So this leaves Ping as the only sure way to confirm a path is up.
I currently cater for this need by generating two nodes for the same device. But this uses an additional "Node" license and causes confusion for the Orion auto-topology connection system.
If a node could have a second monitored IP address we could monitor both WAN paths when "dual path" services are configured.
Warren Meech
Radio New Zealand
